Two

~~Kate~~

“Welcome to the Reid’s!”

Yssa exclaims as she grins from ear to ear. She spread her arms, showing their huge front door. We’ve been friends for almost two years and this is the first time I came over. Yssa’s the one who always comes to visit me and spends sleepovers at my place.

“So, what do you think? Isn’t it nice that you’re finally able to come over?” She holds my hand and leads the way inside. “It’s been a while since we have a visitor. Even Dad was surprised when I told him my best friend's going to spend the holiday with us,” she chuckles.

I can’t help but smile as I watch my friend laugh. Yssa’s always laughing when we’re together, but seeing her so cheerful now feels different. I heard she grew up without a mother and is living with her dad all this time. She sometimes mentioned about not wanting to hang out in the house when we have no classes or plans to go out.

Yssa’s not saying anything, but perhaps there are memories in this house that makes her sad. So, seeing her so cheerful puts my heart at ease.

“Thanks for inviting me,” I say, smiling back at her.

Yssa stares at me briefly before nudging me with her elbow. “Don’t mention it. It’s me who should be thankful that you agree to join us. I’m no longer going to spend holidays with just my Dad.”

My eyebrows slightly meet. “Why? Aren’t you close with your Dad?”

Yssa shrugs. “We’re okay, but you know. Sometimes I also want someone else to talk with in this house… There are things I can’t exactly talk about with my dad,” she sighs. “Anyways! Let me show you the guest room. I told Amando to prepare the largest one for my best frien,” Yssa squeals and drags me to the stairs.

“H-Hey! Slow down, Yssa,” I puff, catching my breath as I clutch my chest.

“No way. You promise to help me make some dessert for dinner. We should hurry or we won’t be able to finish it on time,” she retorts and keeps dragging me along upstairs.

Before I can protest, Yssa already pulls me down the hallway. In no time, we stumbled in the guest room where I’ll be staying.

“Woah,” I look around, appreciating the room Yssa prepared for me. “This is nice. Thank you,” I smile, loving the delicate arrangement in the bedroom.

“I know you’ll like it. I ask Amando to try imitating the vibe you have in your room so you’ll feel comfortable while staying over,” Yssa says, beaming at me.

I feel a surge of warmth filling my chest, and it’s nice.

**************************

“Ah, finally! I can’t believe it’s this hard to make gingerbread cookies,” Yssa sighs, wiping off the sugar on her apron.

We’ve been in the kitchen for hours and just barely made a dozen edible cookies. “We did good for our first time, though we need more practice,” I say, patting the floor off my face.

We failed several times and ended up making a mess in the kitchen. Armando, Yssa’s housekeeper looked more frustrated than we were while watching us. His arms crossed with his eyebrows knitted as he stood in the corner, probably debating whether to step in or stop us from what we’re doing.

“I can’t say you were good at all,” Armando protests, shaking his head. I can already guess what he has in mind. Well, he’s been very patient.

We only managed to get a hang of it and successfully made a proper cookie. Thanks to Armando’s guidance, we finished our baking session. Though by the time we’re done, thick flour clung to our hair and sugar dusted our clothes, leaving us no choice but to laugh at the mess after tasting the cookies that somewhat succeeded.

“It’s almost time for dinner. You should get ready before the Master arrives,” Armando says, checking the time on the wall clock. “Go ahead and do your thing. I’ll clean up.”

“Ugh! It’s sticky. I’m gonna get a shower,” Yssa says, taking off her apron.

I did the same and turned to Armando with an apologetic look. “I’ll go too. Are you sure you can do this alone?” I ask him, guilty.

Armando nods and smiles. “Don’t worry. Besides, I can’t let the guests do my job.”

I smile back and head upstairs to my room. I step out of my clothes as soon as I get in the bathroom. Humming, I turn on the light and the shower. The warm water feels so nice I can’t help closing my eyes and relaxing while massaging my scalp with shampoo.

It feels so good and didn’t occur to me that when I finally open my eyes, I’ll be welcomed by a pair of round, unblinking eyes staring back at me. Clinging to the tiled wall just above the showerhead is probably the biggest house lizard I ever seen in my life.

“A-Aaaaaaaaaahhh—” My screams are cut off when I cover my mouth the moment I realize the lizard may jump into it. With my helplessly shaking legs, I take a step back, not taking my eyes off its tiny frame.

“H-Hik!” I stumble by the bathroom door, still having a staring contest at the lizard. I crawl away, and the moment it moves, I get up faster than I could imagine and sprint out of the room, naked.

“H-Help…” I scream, voiceless. As much as I want to yell, no voice comes out of my mouth. My chest tightens as I stumble forward, colliding with something hard.

“Ouch,” I groan, rubbing my nose. I lift my head slowly and freeze. Towerering over me is a man I don’t recognize.

His expression is unreadable as his gaze sweeps over me from head to toe. His eyebrows furrow when his eyes meet mine.

“Who are you?” His deep voice echoes through my head, sending electric waves in my nerves.